Namor has been the popular fan choice for the villain of Black Panther 2, but the sequel’s new nemesis should be Doctor Doom instead. Audiences were first introduced to T’Challa aka Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) in Captain America: Civil War, but it wasn’t until 2018 when they got to experience his own story. Black Panther took viewers to the fictional, technologically advanced nation of Wakanda and surpassed all expectations. It made over $1.3 billion worldwide and won three Acadamy Awards for Marvel Studios.

With this response, Black Panther 2 became inevitable. Writer-director Ryan Coogler officially returned at the end of 2018 and has left fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe waiting to find out what he has planned ever since. This has taken longer than originally expected though, as Black Panther 2 isn’t hitting theaters until May 2022 and early hopes of filming beginning in late 2019 will not come to pass. Coogler is still working on the script, but he and Kevin Feige teased that they weren’t quite ready to announce the title or villain at D23. This would indicate that all of this is already mapped out and it has been the Atlantean king Namor who has been at the top of wishlists to square off with T’Challa next.

The war between two kings is an exciting prospect, especially when one is of land and the other of the sea, and would finally bring Namor to the big screen - something that fans have been waiting to see for a long time. But all of this speculation has been just that: speculation. Even the believed Namor tease in Avengers: Endgame has been debunked by the writers as unintentional. While Marvel Studios could reverse engineer that tease to work for Namor, there’s been no clear sign that he is going to be in Black Panther 2. In fact, if Marvel is looking for another ruler for Black Panther to fight, then they should look at the batch of newly acquired characters from Fox and utilize Doctor Doom.

The MCU Needs A Different Approach For Doom

Victor von Doom is one of Marvel Comics’ greatest villains, but those only familiar with the movies may have a tough time believing that to be true. He was featured as the main villain in both of the Fantastic Four movie franchises, but neither captured the complexity of him. The first version - played by Julian McMahon - had the billionaire fund the team’s mission to space and go with them, resulting in him getting his powers the same as the rest. Meanwhile, the second - played by Toby Kebbell - saw Doom become a brilliant but isolated computer technician who gains his powers from Planet Zero. In addition to the changes made to his origin and powers, neither interpretation has given Doom much of any development. But, with two failed big-screen attempts already, the MCU has to switch things up whenever they decide to introduce him.

This is one clear advantage of introducing him in Black Panther 2. Doom would be prominently featured as the main villain, and have the opportunity for plenty of screentime as a result. Unlike his prior appearances, Black Panther 2 will retain a cast that audiences are already familiar with. Fleshing out who Doom is and what he wants would be one of the primary goals of the film and Coogler could do it without worrying about introducing four other leads at the same time. And given the intricacies Coogler helped bring to Killmonger in the first film, he’s proven that he could make Doom a richer character.

This also would immediately differentiate the MCU’s version of Doom from the rest by having him be Black Panther’s foe first. Doom is closely associated with the Fantastic Four, and rightfully so, but he has been a rival to many Marvel heroes over the years. With the expansiveness of the MCU at his disposal, there’s no reason to introduce Doom the same way audiences are familiar with. He can still have a deep-rooted history with the Fantastic Four, but having him square off with Wakanda first shows them that he’s bigger than just a Fantastic Four villain.

As for his characterization, Doom feuding with T’Challa could allow Marvel Studios to present him in a different state than the movies have shown before. Doom’s previous cinematic appearances have brought end of the world stakes and put him in his iconic suit, but they haven’t shown him as a ruler of his own nation. In the comics, Doom is the leader of Latveria - and one that is largely favored by its citizens. This could allow Marvel to add layers to him as a character by showing that the people he rules over appreciate his ways, even if the heroes don’t always agree with them.

How Doom Could Work With Black Panther 2

The possibility of Doctor Doom being the villain of Black Panther 2 opens up plenty of potential storylines for the film to follow. Thanks to a recent rumor though, a baseline for Doom’s involvement may have been revealed. According to Charles Murphy at Murphy’s Multiverse, the story of Black Panther 2 will be loosely based on Marvel’s Doomwar event and see Doom come into conflict with Wakanda as he expands his empire into Africa.

The six-issue Doomwar limited series picks up after Doom orchestrates a plan to take over Wakanda after he nearly killed T’Challa before. That encounter leaves T’Challa in a coma and sees Shuri become the new Black Panther. Doom then pulls strings behind the scenes to build unrest in Wakanda and separate their forces so that he can steal the majority of their vibranium, which he learns can be magically charged. This forces T’Challa to work with the Fantastic Four to try and defeat Doom, who believes he’s set the world on a path of peace with him as the ruler of all humanity, and render the vibranium that Doom stole useless in order to defeat him. This story is epic in scale with the Fantastic Four, Deadpool, and others getting involved, but could be condensed for the purposes of Black Panther 2.

Some of the unrest in Wakanda may already exist following T’Challa’s decision to open Wakanda’s gates and we have no idea how the country was run (or who ran it) after The Snap happened. It’s possible that Doom rose to power during The Snap and now sees Wakanda as a threat to his reign with the royal family intact. There’s the potential that Namor could still be involved as part of Doom’s manipulation, but that would put Black Panther 2 in dangerous territory of becoming overstuffed. Instead, Doom could use the current state of Wakanda to get the public to begin questioning T’Challa’s leadership and try to show Wakandans how much better life is under Doom’s reign. With his focus elsewhere - and possibly on the pressure of finding a wife - Doom’s conquest of Africa may not take T’Challa’s full attention and leave Wakanda looking for someone else to rule. As an added bonus, Doom’s potential reign in Latveria would still give Marvel fans a war between two rulers, just not the two that have been wildly speculated.

What This Would Mean For The MCU’s Future

Depending on how Black Panther 2 potentially tackles the Doomwar storyline and setup, there’s a number of changes that could come to the MCU. Shuri suiting up and becoming another Black Panther is a big one already. Fans were hoping this could happen in Avengers: Endgame, but perhaps it’s being saved for Coogler’s sequel instead. While the reason for her suiting up may need to change - as T’Challa already almost died in the original Black Panther - she would then be an even more formidable fighter for years to come. Additionally, this could also pave the way for T’Challa to get married. While it shouldn’t be expected that Black Panther 2 will also introduce Ororo Munroe aka Storm to fill that role, the sequel could see T’Challa and Nakia tie the knot after rekindling their romance at the end of Black Panther.

Aside from the Black Panther franchise though, this would also mean that the MCU has one of their biggest villains established for years to come. Being a threat to Wakanda could put him and Latveria on the map of the Avengers, Nick Fury’s latest intelligence agency, and so on. But, it also means that Doom is readily available to take on other Avengers and eventually the Fantastic Four in the MCU. He can still have a history with the team after such an introduction, as this attack could even be what puts Doom back on the radar of Reed Richards and company. With the rich comic history of Doom then at the MCU’s disposal, he could assume the position as the main villain over an entire Phase or two and be central in eventual crossover storylines like Secret Wars or Dark Reign.

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As of now, the idea of Doctor Doom being in Black Panther 2 in any capacity is up for debate and not yet proven to be accurate. But, with Coogler still writing the script in a post-Disney/Fox deal world, he now has the ability to utilize him as the villain if he wants to. And given the potential it gives the MCU as it heads into Phase 5, hopefully Doom’s arrival comes sooner than later either way.

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